Accenture has launched a new Innovation Centre in Paris. The centre, according to the firm, aims to provide clients speed up their digital transformations and create innovative pathways to future growth.

The rapid advance of digital technologies, from apps to cloud-based solutions, means that companies now have a breadth, as well as a depth, of options to consider when seeking for ways to reducing operational costs, meet customer expectations, tailor customer journeys as well as innovate whole new service lines and enter new markets rapidly. The new technologies present companies with both challenges and opportunities. On one hand incumbents’ market share is being threatened by nimble competitors, while on the up side companies can quickly reduce overheads and improve services due to digital technologies. Many companies, however, find it difficult to isolate how to transform, where to invest, and how to avoid the various pitfalls that come with digital transformations.

In a bid to support global companies, Accenture is in the process of launching various global hubs that provide organisations with a means to explore future innovations, reimagine their digital strategies, and create new products and services by developing new business models in an immersive, ideation environment. Besides Accenture, many of its competitors too have opened innovation centres around the globe – EY for instance recently opened a centre in Madridand KPMG opened a startup incubator in the US.

Accenture's latest Innovation Center was recently launched in Paris. The innovation centre will support the firm’s regional clients, leveraging its wider network, including Fjord and Accenture Analytics, to develop personalised routes to innovation for clients - made according to their specific objectives. The new hub is one of several, including the recently launched Centre for Innovation in Dublin, as well as hubs in Bangalore, India; Sophia Antipolis, France; Beijing, China; as well as San Jose, California and Washington, DC, in the US.

“Innovation has always been critical to remain competitive, but today it needs to be delivered at speed, at scale and yield business results rapidly,” says Pascal Delorme, Managing Director for Accenture Digital in France and Benelux. “While most companies understand this imperative, some don’t know where to start and others have launched many innovation initiatives with limited tangible business outcomes. By focusing innovation sessions on each client’s specific objectives, accordingly applying our result-driven ideation methodology and leveraging our other capabilities, such as our analytics assets, our Labs and Open Innovation initiative, we provide organisations with a unique innovation accelerator, with end-to-end services.”

“The establishment of our latest Innovation Center in Paris demonstrates Accenture’s continued commitment to France and our commitment to contribute to the innovation momentum in the country,” says Christian Nibourel, country Managing Director for Accenture in France and Benelux. “No organisation is immune to disruption and the best defense remains innovation. Through the Innovation Center, we bring Accenture’s full breadth of innovation capabilities, including our proven ideation methodology, digital technology expertise, and deep industry knowledge, which together will help our clients in their race toward innovation.”